Yevgeny Prigozhin was likely one of ten people killed in a high-profile plane crash on 23 August.
As the leader and financier of the paramilitary Wagner Group, the long-time oligarch had gained a growing profile during the full-scale Ukraine war – and fallen out with the regular army leadership in Moscow.
Now President Zelenskyi claims that it was Russia that was behind the murder of the Wagner leader, Pigozhin, and points out Putin, during a conference in Kiev.
However, Zelenskyy presents no specific evidence for the claim.
Russia has called allegations of involvement in Prigozhin’s death an “absolute lie” and said the plane crash will be investigated.
Secret settlement
As the leader and financier of the paramilitary Wagner group, the long-time oligarch had gained an increasing profile during the full-scale Ukraine war and had fallen out with the army leadership in Moscow.
When Wagner’s forces finally marched on Moscow on Midsummer’s Day—and locked in deadly clashes with the regular Russian military—Putin described it as a stab in the back and vowed revenge on all traitors.
When the course of events was over, the Kremlin and Prigozhin had reached a shady settlement that would primarily give the Wagner soldiers and their leaders free leave to neighboring Belarus. It was unclear exactly what the leaders had agreed upon and to what extent it was followed, as Prigozhin later traveled between Belarus and Russia and to Africa.
After the plane crash, there has been speculation as to what caused the plane to crash and whether it may have been shot down or sabotaged in some way. Intelligence reports in the West claim that Vladimir Putin made the decision that Prigozhin should be killed – which the Kremlin has flatly denied.
Since the early 90s
Putin and Prigozhin got to know each other in their shared hometown of St. Petersburg in the 1990s, where they both climbed to positions of power in different ways. Commenting on Prigozhin’s death in a televised appearance, Putin said they had known each other since the “early 1990s”, which would be longer than previously known.
Later, Yevgeny Prigozhin has joined the circle of men who enjoy Putin’s confidence and build fortunes for themselves – in exchange for loyalty and favors, such as taking charge of a paramilitary military force that fights Russia’s battles abroad.
– He was a man with a difficult destiny and he made serious mistakes in life. And he achieved the required results both for himself and when I asked him for it, for common purposes, as in these past months, Putin said in the televised appearance.